Juice extractor



L. W. VAN DUSEN JUICE EXTRACTOR Aug. 15, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledApril 21, 1947 Aug. 15, 1950 w. VAN DUSEN JUICE EX'IIRACTOR 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 21. 1947 llllllllllllllllmunw Patented Aug.15, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,5l8,(i(l

J U ICE BXTRACTOR Laurence .-W.' Va n Dusen, San Diego, Calif., as-

signor to Van Dusen- Engineering Company, San Diego; Calif., acop'artnership' .Application April 21, 1947, Serial No; 142,769

g 3 Claims. (01. 100-41) 1 This invention relates to a juice extractor,and'is particularly directed to a device which will squeeze'citrusfruits such as'oranges-or lemons in a rapid and eflicient manner withoutrequiring that the fruit be cut in two before squeezing. The principalobject of this invention-is to provide a juice extractorwhich-willsqueeze awhole fruit without requiringcutintwobeforesqueezing.

Another obiectiisto provide a'squeezer type juice extractorwhichoberates in every-rapid andeflicientmanner.

Another object is to'provide a juice extractor having a bowl'and a.pivoted' platen movable in the bowl toward a stationary abutment; thelocation of the pivotal axis being displaced from the stationaryabutment to avoid loss of juice "by escape throughthe', pivotalconnection. Z

Another object is to provide a juiceex'tractor of this type in which therelation of the platen and abutment faces to the position of the pivotalhinge point produces a rolling action on" the fruit during squeezingwhich facilitates the breakup of the juice cells and thus releases thejuice more readily.

Another object is to provide a juice extractor of this type having aplurality of stationary blades in the bowl which act to cut the fruitduring the squeezing action and thus materially assist in extractingjuice from the fruit.

Another object is to provide such'ai device in which the stationaryblades terminate "short of the fixed abutment to provide space for'accumulation of the squeezed fruitso that 'it may be subsequentlyremoved from the bowl without interference from the knives.

A further object'is to provide'a juice extractor of this type in whichcertain of the knives are located at a lower elevation than others tosupthat the fruit be bowl.

A still further object is to provide a relatively-- deep bowl havingarelatively small pening and pivotally attaching the platen to thebowlat a point displaced from the stationary abutment sothat adequate roomis provided for expansion- Other objects and advantages will app ar:

hereinafter.

Inthedrawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation,- partly in section;

the la e I port the fruit at 'a relatively high elevationimitially andto center the fruit laterally of the 2 showing a preferred embodiment ofmy invention.

Figure 2 is a front elevation thereof. Figure 3 is a plan view, partlybroken away, showing the bowl and its related parts. I Figure 4 is asectional view-taken substantially on the lines 4.4 as shown inFigure 1. Figure 5 is a fragmehtal side elevation showing the bowl insection and showing a portion ;Figure 6 is a'. perspective view showinga; re movable strainer member and illustrating the position of; thestationary knives thereon.

Figure 7 shows aside elevation, partly in sectlon ofra modified-form ofmyinvention. -F iwre 8 is a side elevation, partly in section, showingthebowl and movable platen. A

Figure; 9 is a longitudinal sectional view of the strainermember"employed in connection with the modified form of my invention.

igure 10 is a plan view, partly broken away, and showing thebowl and itsrelated parts i1- lustrated in Figure 7.

Figure 11 is a sectional detail partly broken away taken substantiallyon the lines H--H as shown in Figure 7.

Referring to the drawings, and specifically to that form of theinvention shown Figures 1 to 6 inclusive, the'base H2 may be providedwith three supporting feet H, i2 and 3 adapted to rest on any levelsurface such as a table. A bowl member :4 is carried on the upper end ofthe base l0 and is provided with a partition or stationary abutment l5'extending upwardly within the bowl M to separate the fruit receivingcavity [6 from the drainage chamber ll. The rear wall l8 of the bowlmember l i forms one side of the drainage chamber H and the upstandingabutment l5-forms the other side. A pair of rearwardiy extending ears l3and 25 are formed integrally with the upper portion of the wall I8 andprovided with aligned openings'zl for reception 'of the removable hingepin 22. Pivotally mounted on the hinge pin 22 by means of a boss 23 is amovable platen generally desig-,.

nated 24. Platen 24 is provided with a forwardly and downwardlyprojecting operating handle 25 having a. pad 26 at its extreme end. msocarried on the platen 24 is a squewer member 2'! having a working face28 adapted to squeeze a fruit such as; for example, a citrus fruitbetween the face 28 and the working surface 29 of the' abutment l5.'The'squeezer member zlyextends into the cavity l6, and arranged toconform with the travel-of its-outeredg'e'3fl is a strainer-memthestrainer member 3| and positioned in parallel relationship are aplurality of' upwardly ex-- tending knives 31, 38 and 39. It should benoted that these knives do not extend into contact with the abutment l5,but, on the contrary, terminate at 46 to leave a space between theirends 45 and the abutment i5. The purpose of this space will be describedhereinafter.

As shown in Figure 6, the lower extreme edge of the strainer member 3|rests on the lugs 33. lhe strainer member Si is broken away on the righthand side of Figure 6 in order to clearly illustrate the position andfunctioning ofthe slots which are positioned in the squeezerme nber 21of the platen 24. These slots 4! 4 2 and 43 are parallel and eachreceives one of the knives in sliding relation when the platen 24 movesabout its hinge pin 22 to bring the-squeezer member 21 inv proximity tothe abutment l5.

Thus, the knife 39 is receivedwithin the slot H, the knife 38 within theslot 42'and the knife 31 within the slot 43.

A .boss 23 on the platen 24 isconnected by an arch portion 54 to thesqueezer member H, and

the underside of this arch portion is formed asa deflector surface whichjoins with the sur-'- face 28 in a smooth radius Mi.- The deflectorsurface extends laterally over the entire cavity !6 and over thedrainage chamber ll.

In operation, the platen member .24 is pivoted to an inoperativeposition with the squeezer memher 2? outside the cavity it to permitinsertion of the strainer member 3!. A whole fruit such as an orange isthen placed in the bowl and rested on the upper edges of the knives 3T,38 and 39. The fruit is automatically centered laterally of the bowlsince the knife 38 has its upper edge positicned at a lower elevationand the fruit is thus initially maintained in a relatively high positionin the bowl. The handle 25 of the platen 25 is then rotated in clockwisedirection as viewed in Figure l to bring the squeezer member fa 8 intocontact with the fruit, not shown.

Continued movement of the platen 24 forces thefruit through the knives3T, 38 and 39 thereby cutting the rind and the pulp of the fruit inthree places, but avoiding severance of the fruit into separate parts.The bowl is formed relatively deep so that adequate space is availablein front of the abutment surface 29 to permit the fruit to flatten outin every direction without crowding into any corner of the bowl. Theforce applied between the face 28 and abutment surface 29 is thereforeeffective to extract substantially all of the juice without requiringexcessive force on the handle 25. The juice expelled from the fruitpasses downwardly through the aperture 34 in the strainer member 3| andinto the space 35 within the bowl M. The juice then pours from thedischarge port 36 into a container, not shown. During the squeezingprocess, juice may be expelled in an upward direction, and,. if thisoccurs, such juice. is not allowed to escape through the hinge point butis deflected by the surface 45 over the top of the abutment i5 and intothe drainage chamber 11. A discharge port 41 at the lower end of thechamber l1 discharges juice into the same container.

When the juice has been extracted from the fruit, the handle 25 isrotated in a, counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Figure 1, to movethe squeezer member .21 out of the cavity t6: The platen 24 is rotatedcounter-clockwise almost degrees so that the entire upper portion of thebowl is exposed. In this position the-pulp and rind of the fruit whichhas been squeezed maybe manually removed from the cavity l5 Thissqueezed fruit to be removed is in: the formof aflat biscuit and it iseasily withdrawn manually because no interference is ofiered by theknives 31, 38 and 39. The biscuit or squeezed fruit, as it ishereinafter described, is positioned in the space between the abutmentsurface 29 and the ends 40 of the blades so that the blades do notcontact the squeezed fruit during the removal operation. After'the Isqueezed fruit has been discardedand another whole fruit is inserted,the sequence of operations is repeated. It has been' found by actualtest thatthis device will squeeze a greater quantityof juice in the.same time interval'than any conventional squeezer type juice extractor.This-- advantage accrues from the ability to squeeze a whole fruit andthus thetinre normally required; for cutting the fruit prior to.squeezing is saved. Furthermore, only a single'bis'cuitof pulp and lrind need be withdrawn for each whole fruit instead of withdrawinghalves or smaller por tions. y

In the modified form of my invention shown which an abutment member 55is integrally formed. The strainer member 55 is provided with apertures51 and parallel knives 58; 59 and E0, and the upper surface of thecentral knife 59- is lower than the knives 58 and 6B; A slot 6t isformed centrally in the strainer member 55. and extends upwardly fromthe termination ofthe blade 59. Slot 5! is adapted to receive adownwardly extending fin 62 forming part of the handle 63 on the platenmember, generally designated 64. This platen. 64 is: pivotally securedto the bowl 554 by means of the hinge pin 65 positioned at the upper endof the rear wal1'66 of the bowl 54. Ribs 61' are positioned on oppositesides of the bowl 54 and provided with lugs 58 at their lower ends.Projections 69: on the back side of the abutment member 56 are adaptedto rest against the ribs 6'! and thetherewith and that no partition isprovided with-- in the bowl 54. Only a single discharge port H isprovided and this port communicates with the cavity 12 Within thestrainer member 55 and-also with the drainage chamber 13 defined betweenthe rear wall 66 and the abutment member 56.

to the details herein set forth, but my invention is of the full scopeof the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a, juice extractor for citrus fruits, and the like, thecombination of a bowl member having a cavity adapted to receive a wholefruit, a

plurality of stationary parallel knives in the cavity having curved endportions adapted to support a fruit initially at a relatively highelevation in the cavity, the end portions of adjacent knives beingdisposed at different heights to conform to b the shape of the fruit andthereby act to center the fruit laterally within the cavity, astationary abutment in the cavity, and a movable platen pivotallymounted on the bowl member and having slots each receiving one of theknives, the platen being movable in the cavity to move the fruit throughthe knives and squeeze it against the abutment.

2. In a juice extractor, the combination of a bowl member having wallsdefining a fruit receiving cavity, one of said walls comprising astationary upwardly extending abutment, a movable platen having a faceadapted to squeeze fruit against said abutment, and pivotal meanspositioned on the opposite side of the abutment from the platen face forsecuring the platen on the bowl member, a portion of said movable platenproviding a deflector surface on the movable platen joining with saidplaten face and adapted to span over the upper end of the abutment, saiddeflector surface being adapted to prevent upward escape of juice duringsqueezing of the fruit.

3. In a juice extractor, the combination of a bowl member having anupwardly extending partition therein defining a fruit receiving cavityand a spill chamber within the bowl member, and a movable platenpivotally mounted on the outer wall of the spill chamber and having aface adapted to move in the cavity to squeeze fruit against thepartition, a portion of said movable platen providing a deflectorsurface on the movable platen joining with said platen face and adaptedto span over the upper end of the partition, said deflector surfacebeing adapted to divert upwardly moving juice from the cavity into thespill chamber during squeezing of the fruit.

LAURENCE W. VAN DUSEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 590,221 Heath Sept. 21, 1897609,695 McKee Aug. 23, 1898 796,341 Middlekauff Aug. 1, 1905 1,152,933Cooper Sept. 7, 1915 1,180,959 Turner Apr. 25, 1916 1,886,250 BungayNov. 1, 1932 1,910,559 Morin May 23, 1933 2,111,997 Stephens Mar, 22,1938

